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Monday, January 13, 2014

The Grumpy Dwarf Peers into the Scrying Pool for 2014

Grumpy nearly forgot to give his predictions for 2014 in the world of RPGs. I've sent him to the scrying pool, otherwise known as the Tavern's Outhouse, to make his observations for 2014.

Here are the results:

1 - Far West will finally release in 2014. It will be over 2 years late and no one will notice, because no one cares anymore.2 - D&D Next will release at NTRPG Con in June. It will be a re-reprinting of the AD&D 1e books. Optional modules will include the re-reprinting of 2e and 3.5e, as well as a reprinting of 4e. All are the New D&D according to WotC.3 - Dwimmermount will dim further, before being rescued by none other than James Mal himself. It will be rewritten for James's Thousand Suns RPG and be reskinned as a abandoned space dreadnought. Kickstarter backers won't be amused.4 - There will be 2d6+1 OSR rulesets released in 2014. At least one will attempt to recreate My Little Pony.5 - Myth & Magic will still be shipping at the end of 20146 - Mike Nystul will attempt to run a "real life dungeon" in some random cave complex. Funding will be via Indiegogo.7 - RPG Kickstarters will have funding issues in 2014, as backers money will still be tied to unfilled Kickstarters from 20128 - WotC will license the FATE rules for a special "tho shalt not die" edition of the D&D rules. Afterwards, the FATE system will simply fade away.9 - Someone will invent a D31 die - just because. The D31 will supplant the D31, and cause all D30 tables to be revised.10 - Two months after the release of D&D Next, the first OGL reskinning of D&D Next will occur. There will be much teeth grinding at WotC and burning of the OGL in effigy. The OGL'ed reskin of Next will outsell next itself.11 - It will be a cold December in Seattle. The yearly purges will return.

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Why "Swords & Wizardry?"

Believe me when I say I have them all in dead tree format. I have OSRIC in full size, trade paperback and the Player's Guide. I have LL and the AEC (and somewhere OEC, but I can't find it at the moment). Obviously I have Basic Fantasy RPG. Actually, I have the whole available line in print. Way too much Castles & Crusades. We all know my love for the DCC RPG. I even have Dark Dungeons in print, the Delving Deeper boxed set, Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea (thank you Kickstarter) (edit) BOTH editions of LotFP's Weird Fantasy and will soon have some dead tree copies of the Greyhawk Grognards Adventures Dark & Deep shipping shortly in my grubby hands awaiting a review..

I am so deep in the OSR when I come up for breath it's for the OSR's cousin, Tunnels & Trolls (and still waiting on dT&T to ship).

So, out of all that, why Swords & Wizardry? Why, when I have been running a AD&D 1e / OSRIC campaign in Rappan Athuk am I using Swords & Wizardry and it's variant, Crypts & Things, for the second campaign? (Actually, now running a S&W Complete campaign, soon to be with multiple groups)

Because the shit works.

It's easy for lapsed gamers to pick up and feel like they haven't lost a step. I can house rule it and it doesn't break. It plays so close to the AD&D of my youth and college years (S&W Complete especially) that it continually surprises me. Just much less rules hopping than I remember. (my God but I can run it nearly without the book)

I grab and pick and steal from just about all OSR and Original resources. They seem to fit into S&W with little fuss. It may be the same with LL and the rest, but for me the ease of use fit's my expectations with S&W.

Even the single saving throw. That took me longer to adjust to, but even that seems like a natural to me now. Don't ask me why, it just does. Maybe it's the simplicity of it. At 45 48, simplicity and flexibility while remaining true to the feel of the original is an OSR hat trick for me ;)